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Earn a Master of Education in Earth Science

Teaching Earth Science
Classroom Activities and Lesson Plans

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Below is a list of teacher resources that include lesson plans, activities, projects, educational links, and much more. These beneficial resources can easily be modified and incorporated into the earth science classroom.

Christy Pratt

Popular Earth Science Lesson Topics


	Teaching Plate Tectonics Use these easy-to-draw illustrations to teach your students about plate tectonics. Step-by-step teaching plan that can be modified for a variety of grade levels.

	USGS Educational Resources The educational resources from USGS are useful for 7-12 grade science educators. USGS has complete teaching modules, structured classroom activities, and www-resources for many of their topics.

	Rocks and Minerals Information about rocks and minerals for professional development and use with students. Photos of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks to project or assign as study. Information on minerals and their uses.

	Art's Mineral Identification Chart This printable mineral identification chart is an excel document that can be customized for the minerals you use when teaching. This mineral identification chart can be used for elementary, secondary, middle school, and university level students.

	Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America has compiled a list of resources for K-12 Earth science educators. All topics include lesson plans and additional resources to assist the educators.

	Maps and Satellite Images Our collection of over 600 reference maps and satellite images can answer lots of questions about geography and geology. Separate indexes for World Maps and US State Maps are available, as well as Satellite Images.

	Resources for Earth Science Instruction Resources for Earth Sciences and Geography Instruction has an alphabetized listing of topics with links to almost 400 earth science concepts that can be developed into organized lesson plans.

	Geologic Time Scale This printable geologic time scale is easy to understand and is not too complex. This time scale is a word document that can easily be customized for any earth science teacher's needs.

	The Geological Society The Geological Society has compiled many links to teacher resources from their own material, web-based resources, and printed teaching support material. There are many more links by choosing directories and then choosing Teaching & Learning.

	Earth Science Dictionary This easy to use earth science dictionary contains several hundred of the most commonly used earth science terms. This dictionary is helpful for elementary, secondary, middle school, and university students.

	Science-Teacher Science Teacher has many types of science teaching materials like activities, worksheets, and lesson plans for upper elementary and middle school science teachers.

	Geography4Kids This website has a great assortment of earth science, geography, astronomy, etc. material that can be used as lesson plans and even classroom activities. These core earth science ideas are great for educators and students.

	USGS USGS has compiled lesson plans, paper models, websites, and other educational materials to support teachers. Students can also receive help for homework, project ideas, and research tools.

	EarthNet EarthNet has educational activities, links to different earth science websites, a teacher's page, and many more beneficial topics for the earth science educator.

	Illinois State Museum Illinois State Museum has a great assortment of earth science lesson plans to help teachers explain the material to students in grades K-12.

	The Science Mission Directorate This website has educational activities that provide opportunities for learners to investigate the world and universe using NASA resources.

	USGS USGS explains the Water Cycle through a clickable diagram that covers all aspects dealing with the water cycle. There are a few versions of the diagram available for teachers to use in the classroom.

	Windows to the Universe This website offers a lot of information on earth and space science and includes classroom activities, classroom journals, educational links, and a place for teachers to share information.

	Hawai`i Space Grant Consortium Hawai`i Space Grant Consortium has over 25 hands on science activities that the educator can print and use; there is also a list of links to educational sites, and a list of links to standards.

	Exploring the Environment Exploring the Environment has a great set of modules and activities that can be turned into lesson plans, a teacher's page, and a list of other useful websites. The material ranges from basic to advanced for students in grades 5-12.

	Discovery Education Discovery education has a list of earth science, astronomy, weather, and many other useful lesson plans for teachers of all grade levels.

	The University of Nebraska - Lincoln The University of Nebraska gives a great list of lesson plans for teachers of all grade levels. Earth Systems Connections also has a great listing of lesson plans on this page.

	Scholastic Scholastic has multiple lesson plans and activities for each of the different topics under earth and space science.

	Education World Education World has an enormous amount of useful information for teachers. There is lesson planning, professional development, technology integration, and much more to inform and help the educator.

	Science Class Science class has a great variety of science topics and accompanying each topic there are multiple activities, internet resources, demonstrations, and much more.

	John Lahr John Lahr has a great list of hands-on learning activities and lesson plans to use in the earth science classroom.

	Science Teacher Science teacher offers a large list of completed lesson plans and activities that can be used by earth science educators.

	NOVA Nova offers a variety of earth science topics that include classroom activities, ideas from teachers, related resources, and interactions for students that teachers can incorporate into their classroom.

	The University of Illinois The University of Illinois has a listing of classroom activities that introduce topics in meteorology. There is also a teacher's guide that corresponds to each activity.

	NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration provides the latest information about auroral science and the study of Earth's magnetic field. The classroom activities and projects are beneficial for both educators and students.

	Earth & Sky Earth and Sky is a radio series that has a variety of discussion categories that the educator could incorporate into the classroom. They also have a teacher section, so the radio show can be used in the classroom.

	Oil On My Shoes The Science of petroleum Geology is explained through this website. This website helps discover rocks, fossils, drilling for oil, sandstone, and much more that can easily be used by educators.

	Women in Mining The Women in Mining website has a great list of classroom activities that can turn any educator's classroom into a mineral education activity center.

	Reach out Michigan Reach out Michigan has lesson plan resources for the earth sciences. These lesson plans range from early elementary to the high school level